If it’s a geeky pop culture thing largely dominated by males who have…um, complicated relationships with women, then director Kyle Newman wants to make a movie about it. More than a decade ago he directed Fanboys, one of the worst movies you’ll ever see about Star Wars fandom, even with a cast of Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell, and Seth Rogen. Well, now Newman has turned his attention to gamers, Esports in particular, with 1Up, an underdog comedy about an all-girl Esports squad. At least judging by the new trailer, this looks like a marked improvement.
Paris Berelc stars as V, a nationally-ranked player who hopes to lead her Esports team, The Betas, to championship glory. However, her male squadmates are a bunch of toxic a-holes, so she quits the team, nearly at the cost of her scholarship, and starts a new team: The 8-Bits. Ruby Rose plays Parker, the team’s old school professor, who gives the ladies the skills they need to get the high score.
The role of Parker was originally for Elliot Page, who dropped out shortly after completing his transition. Makes sense, given the nature of the story. Taylor Zakhar Perez, Hari Nef, Nicholas Coombe, and Kevin Farley co-star.
Video game movies are on fire right now, and the timing is right for a good Esports movie. Let’s hope 1Up can do the job. Look for it to stream on Prime Video beginning July 15th.
This outrageously funny esports comedy follows Valerie “V” Lee (Paris Berelc), a competitive gamer whose impressive skills have landed her a college scholarship and a place on the Betas, Barrett University’s male-dominated team. But when the Betas’ captain Dustin (Taylor Zakhar Perez) tells V she’ll never be a starting player, it’s game on. Joined by her best friend Sloane (Hari Nef), and under the guidance of her coach Parker (Ruby Rose), V forms a fierce all-girl team to band together with one common goal: level up to the nationals…and take down the Betas!
